The Ally book 5
by Meagan Snow
Summary: "My name is Astrid. I could tell you my last name, but it would hurt those around me. But you have to trust me. The Yeerks are here."   A new ally has appeared. But who is she? Nothing is as it seems, as a dangerous enemy approaches. AU 5, MarcoXOCXAx
1. Preface

**Hey guys, this is my first attempt at an Animorphs fic. If anyone seems OOC or anything, well, feel free to be blunt. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no-one except for Astrid/Aristha**

Preface (Jake)

I was talking with my best friend Marco as I walked down the hallway at school.

"What are ya doing later? D'you think…" he began.

"Sorry, no can do, I'm gonna be at Cassie's. Aren't you coming?"

"I guess I am. I'm _always_ ready to kick Yeerk butt," he muttered. Mistake. I saw his eyes widen as he looked around to see if anyone heard, but nobody seemed to pay us any attention. Just another pair of idiots on a Friday, during free period, discussing their plans for the weekend, maybe talking about some video game. Wait, nobody? One girl was watching us intensely. I recognized her. She was a transfer student from… Slovenia? No, Slovakia. Her name was… Darn it, I couldn't remember. But she looked away when she saw I'd noticed her and I thought, maybe she was checking me or Marco out, or something like that. If I'd only known how wrong I was.

The rest of the day, I didn't give her a second thought until she approached us after school.

"Hello, Jake, right? And Marco?" she asked. Her voice was quiet, but not shy. I noticed Marco turning pink when she got his name right.

"Yeah, hey. Uh, I can't remember your name…" I finished lamely, but she only smiled.

"Astrid. Could I talk to you two… you know, in private?" All traces of smiling were gone from her face now and her eyes were wide, as if she was trying to send us a message. It struck me then that she might be a Controller, but I decided that was silly. Still, I couldn't be too careful…

"My house?" Marco suggested. He had recently moved to a nicer apartment, but he must have forgotten that his dad would be home on a Friday afternoon.

"Better mine," I replied. Tom would be leaving for his meeting of the Sharing, and my parents would be working. She nodded and shouldered her bag.

We walked to my house, trying to look and act casual, not as if we barely knew each other. We reached it just as Tom was walking out the door.

"Hey, midget," he greeted me. "Who's your girlfriend?"

It sounded like just the thing he would say. Tom, the real Tom, not the Yeerk in his head.

I rolled my eyes and replied, "She's _not_ my girlfriend, Tom. Tom, Astrid, Astrid, Tom."

He nodded and shook her hand. I saw a sudden shadow pass over her face, an expression of recognition and of utter hatred, but it was over before I had time to decide whether or not I had imagined it or not, and was replaced by a smile and a greeting. Tom then left for his meeting. The Sharing. Yeah, right, more like the Infestation.

Once inside, Marco and I tried to corner Astrid, to get her to tell us what she knew, but that was not necessary. She willingly began:  
>"I heard you talking about the Yeerks at school, so I know you know of them; Therefore, I will tell you my story. My name isn't really Astrid. You are two of the remaining Andalites on Earth, yes? I fight the Yeerks also, alone. Forgive me, but who else is with us? There can never be too many of warriors against the Yeerks."<p>

She paused to let us reply, and Marco, rather uncharacteristically, was ready to tell her everything. I silenced him with a look, and replied.

"We won't tell you anything until I'm sure you're not a Yeerk. How am I to know that you will not betray us to the Visser?"

Her eyes glittered as she laughed, and I was shocked by her complete, total lack of fear.

"Very good. You do not trust me, as well you should not. I am, how is it you hu-Americans say it? Busted. But I must assure you that I am most certainly on your side. Now, I was a Yeerk once, Sub-Visser One-Two-Nine; I was saved by My Prince Elfangor-Si… Prince Elfangor of the Andalites. Go ahead and keep me for three days- I have no Yeerk in me to need Kandrona, or a family to miss me." She sounded so sure of her words, and she said the word "Yeerk" with almost Andalite malice, that I found it hard not to believe her. And yet, something about the way she paused at "Americans" and Elfangor's name (hadn't she said, 'my prince'?), and something about the very phrasing, the very cadence of her words told me that she wasn't… normal. I decided to question her a little further.

-"How long have you been fighting the Yeerks?"  
>-"Since I came to America," she replied without batting an eyelash.<p>

-"How much do you know about the Yeerks?"  
>-"Almost everything there is to know."<p>

-"What's your real name?" This from Marco.  
>-"I cannot say." Marco's face fell.<p>

I decided to trust her. Her answers were considerably better than I'd have given if I'd been in her situation.

"Okay, the thing is, we're not Andalites. Me, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias are humans. Except Tobias-he's trapped in morph."

"A _nothlit_," she interjected. I wondered how she'd known that.

"Yeah, that," I continued. "Tobias is a red-tailed hawk. We were given our power by a dying Andalite prince." I wouldn't tell her it was Elfangor. It just seemed that she would have been crushed. And I decided to keep Ax a secret, at least until anyone else though she should know. "So now, we fight the Yeerks as a team. The Animorphs."  
>She nodded, taking the information in. "Animorphs. Clever. Was the name your idea?"<p>

"No, Marco's," I replied. She grinned at Marco, who looked like he might faint, and said, "I might have known."

Then, I there was a tap on the window, and I heard Tobias say, /Psst. Hey. Jake. Marco. What's keeping you guys? …And who's the chick? /

"Oh, yeah, Tobias, Astrid, Astrid, Tobias. Tobias, Astrid fights the Yeerks, solo-style. I was thinking, maybe she could join us for a meeting?" Marco rushed to answer.

/Depends. Jake? What do you say? /

"Yeah, I trust her," I said. What else could I say? I mean, it wouldn't seem fair to distrust her after she told us… not everything, but a lot. Then, Astrid decided to speak.

"Tobias? Are you the _nothlit_?" I swear, Tobias nearly fell out of the air.

/Uh, I, you, ah… yeah. Oh, we are _definitely_ taking her to the meeting. /

I nodded. "C'mon, Astrid, you're coming to meet the rest of the Animorphs."

* * *

><p>"So, wait," Rachel began. "You're telling me that you've been fighting the Yeerks alone. For a few years. And you're still alive." Astrid nodded. "That is <em>so cool<em>. How did you survive?"

Marco rolled his eyes. "Don't mind Rachel, she's always like this."  
>Cassie spoke up, thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we can trust you. There's someone you should meet."<p>

From behind some cages stepped Ax.  
>Astrid did the last thing anyone expected. She sank to her knees, gasping "My Prince."<br>Ax looked surprised, and a bit uncomfortable.

/I am afraid you misperceive. I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. /

She stood and made an alien gesture, pressing both hands to the center of her chest and extending her left, palm up, to Ax, who mirrored the gesture, still looking confused.

I couldn't believe it, and yet it made some sense, in a twisted sort of way. This girl was an Andalite! But it explained the way her speech was a little distorted, and the way she had almost given herself away by saying "humans" instead of "Americans," and calling Elfangor "My Prince" and remembering his full name.

And she seemed to know Ax rather well, from her next statement.

"Aximili! I took you for your brother. Did you not recognize me?" She said, beginning to demorph. Demorph. Into an Andalite. She was morph capable, as well as an Andalite. Well, I guess that shouldn't have been a surprise.

/Aristha? / He asked, with disbelief and a sort of giddy happiness in his 'voice.'

/Yes, / she replied, in a calmer, carefully controlled voice (though you could tell she was so happy, she thought she might have been dreaming), with the Andalite smile. /It is me. / Her Andalite form looked a lot like Ax's, but her eye-stalks were thinner and more slender, her face was rounder, her main eyes were both bigger and more angular, and there was a feel of power around her. If Ax had seemed imposing at first, well, I could finally see why he said he was just a cadet, though she seemed only a little older than him.

By now, Rachel had recovered enough of her wits to ask what we were all thinking: "Astrid? Who the heck are you?"

/This is Aristha-Shpromina-Heill/ Ax explained, in an effort to be helpful.

"Wait a second," Marco interjected, "You're telling me that your middle name is 'Animorphs' spelled backward?"

/I told you it was clever, / she replied. /Well, Rachel asked who I am. Aximili was my… my almost-brother, back on the Andalite home planet. My adopted brother, you might say. Then, I was… hmm, recruited onto a spaceship, while he stayed behind. The ship was destroyed by the Yeerks, and all were killed but I. I, for my trouble, was '_rewarded_' by having a high-ranking put in me. Years after, I met My Prince Elfangor, and… the Yeerk in me tried to kill him. I was not good a warrior yet, and I was thankful for that, for he overcame me easily. I trust that he has made it home safely? /

Nobody said anything. Ax reached over and touched her arm, an uncharacteristically human gesture.

/Aristha… My brother is no longer among the living. /

I almost felt her bubble pop, and saw her retreat into a shell of emotionless calm.

/Oh. I am sorry for your loss. Did he die a warrior's death? / I almost laughed. Ax had asked the same thing. Was this really the first place an Andalite's mind went? I saw it was my responsibility to answer.

"Elfangor was a hero. He was the one who gave us the morphing power. He died resisting the Yeerks until the very end."

She nodded, obviously not satisfied with herself. /I apologize for not trusting you. But now…/ she stopped, and I could see why she thought she should have trusted us. Because Ax was with us. Because Elfangor trusted us. Because we trusted her enough to tell her that we weren't human.

"Would you like to join us?" I asked suddenly.

/Pardon? /

"Would you like to be part of our team?"

/I would love to… Prince Jake. /

**If I get at least one review, I will post the first chapter. Please review? *offers cookies to potential reviewers***

**Again, I now get the feeling that some people may be OOC. Feel free to tell me... and don't worry about hurting my feelings ;)**

**EDIT: This is now a one-shot, unless I get someone who wants me to continue it. I have the next 3 cps written up, but I want to be sure you guys want me to continue it.**

EDIT: Nope, not a one-shot anymore! Love all my reviewers!


	2. Chapter 1

**Thanks for all the great comments, guys! I'll try to update faster on here.**

**iris129 Yes, they're Oreos! *hands Oreo* (O)**

**I3Elfangor I think that's an awesome story and if you ever get an account, PM me and I'll subscribe to you. Only thing: Ax is from Andal, so it would be hard (and perverted) for Hades to fall in love with his mother. Just saying. And there always has to be a wierd one, yeah, though I was thinking Cassie would be more of a Demeter or an Artemis, though she doesn't hate men. Jake is definitely, definitely an Athena, and I don't know who Hypos is. You mean Hephaestus? If that, then yeah, Marco would fit that category. I think Rachel would be an Artemis, a Huntress definitely. An Aphrodite? Oh, well, there's always a wierd one. And Tobias is a 'duh' one, Hera fits him so well :) Though Hera swore not to have children with another than Zeus, maybe Juno (Roman) would be different...? Definitely would do HoO because of all the different options. *hands cookie* (::)**

**TheQAS Thanks :) I'll try for the rest to match the beginning. *hands cookie* (::)**

The Ally

Hi. My name is Aristha-Shpromina-Heill, but the humans call me Astrid. My last name is irrelevant, fake.

Yes, you heard correctly. The humans.  
>I am an Andalite. One of the last two true Andalites on Earth. Now, what I am about to tell you may sound improbable. Even impossible, if you are human. But I assure you, this is the truth.<p>

The planet Earth is being invaded by aliens called Yeerks. In their natural state, they are no more than slugs. Not remotely imposing. But they have the power to take over other bodies, or hosts. We call the infested hosts Controllers. And who is up against them? Five human children and two adolescent Andalites. But they are not just human children. While taking a short cut through an abandoned construction site, they encountered My Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, who was dying. My Prince gave them the Andalite morphing technology. So became the Animorphs. A few weeks after they became a group, they got an urgent distress signal from an Andalite Dome ship, stranded under the sea. On it was Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Aximili had been my friend from since we had both been very young. This is where I come into their story. Years before, when I was little more than a child, I was selected to be on the ship of My Prince…  
>Well, I won't tell an untruth. I admit that I had snuck on. But to my defense, both my parents- Alloran-Semitur-Corrass and Jahar-Shpromina-Viinr- and my sister, Harina-Semitur-Paran, had passed on, and I was living with the Sirinial-Esgarrouth family. They had taken me in on Aximili's behalf- I was his <em>shorm-<em> it was clear they resented my presence.  
>Therefore, I ran away, leaving him a note not to worry, but that he'd never probably see me again. It was not the smartest thing to do, in retrospect, but I was never much of a planner.<p>

Anyway, I caught the wrong ship- though it wended up on Earth, too, only three years sooner (it was a Z-space transport), but the ship was destroyed. By some miracle, I survived, though I was the only survivor. I was captured by the Yeerks, and made Sub-Visser 1-2-9. I was then the human equivalent of seven years old. Three years afterward, I was freed of my Yeerk captor by My Prince Elfangor. It has been five years since that day and I still have not forgotten the gratitude I felt, or the promise I made: to strike at the Yeerks at every chance. And I kept my promise. I trained. I grew stronger in battle. I had become as experienced as many a full male warrior- my sister and mother had been the only females. Finally, I realized I would need a human morph. I collected some _illint_... some DNA from a few sleeping humans, and invented some story about being a transfer student from Slovakia (a human country on the continent called Europe). On my second day at the human school, I overheard some human boys speaking of "kicking Yeerk butt" and I began a conversation with them. I was in. So, this is the Animorphs: Prince Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias, Aximili, and me.

We were gathered in Cassie's barn, also known as the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, where Tobias was going to tell us something important. Tobias is a _nothlit_, one trapped in morph. Tobias is a red-tailed hawk, a human predator-bird, forever. He told us that Visser One is coming to Earth.

Visser _One_.  
>I had never even dreamed of meeting Visser Three.<p>

/Visser One?/ I asked, my voice evidently afraid.

/Yes, One/ Tobias answered. The faces of all the Animorphs exhibited varying degrees of shock. Aximili asked.  
>Do you… Do you _fear_ this Visser?/

/Yes, yes I do/ I admitted.

/Fear is not for the true warrior/ he said pedantically.

I "lost it," as humans would say, at that point. Faster than the humans could follow, or Aximili could react, I sprang forward and put my tail-blade against his throat.

/Tell me, Aximili,/ I heard myself growl, /how many Vissers, or any other Controllers, for that matter, have you fought?/

He let out a mental yelp of surprise and fear, and then looked abashed.

/None/ he admitted, scuffing a hoof against the floor.

/I have fought many. Many more than you can imagine. And let me, a warrior from childhood, tell you something. You may be but a year younger than me. You may believe yourself to be a fearless ideal. But real-life battle is scary. Much scarier than me, your _shorm_, pressing my blade against your throat. Because I'm young, like you. But the Vissers aren't. So watch your back./ I finished, withdrawing my tail. Most of the others just stared, but Marco said, "Well, 'Xena: Warrior Princess,' you've just found your equal." That's what he calls Rachel.

I saw that Aximili, though he was trying to look angry, had tears in his eyes. He flinched as I moved again, but I only placed a hand on his shoulder, a human gesture, but comforting nonetheless. /I'm sorry, Aximili. I was just saying that life isn't about the ideals Andalites learn in schools./

He nodded and answered only, /I'm sorry,/ but I felt the remorse in his words. I felt sorry for him. He had never known the world as it was, only how it was portrayed in school. He had yet to learn the ways of the world outside the Andalite bubble.

-"Well, on that cheery note," Rachel said, in the human inflection called sarcasm, "We should be going. It's getting dark. Astrid, where're you staying tonight?"

I shrugged. Ever since they learned that I had been sleeping in trees, in squirrel morph, for two hours at a time, they had made it a point for me to sleep with one of them. In human morph, of course. (I have since learned that to say that I sleep with them is not a good thing to say as a human.)

Marco shook his head. "As much as I'd love to, I think my dad would freak if I brought home a hot girl who turned into a scorpion-tailed centaur in the middle of the night."

"Well, my mom let me and my sisters have friends over, so Cassie's staying the night." Rachel countered. "I can't invite you, Astrid, because on the cover, I barely know you."

Prince Jake sighed, "No can do, Astrid, I've got Tom."

/That leaves me and Ax/ Tobias reminded.

/And if they can live in the forest, I most certainly can!/ I argued.

"It's settled, then." Prince Jake said.

I followed Ax and Tobias into the forest.

**So how'd you like it? Again, I'll try my best to keep them IC. Ax is the easiest to keep IC, with Marco, but Cassie and Rachel are harder. Tobias is hardest, so he's kind of minor here, though I love him soo much! *squeezes Tobias until he squeaks*  
>I have more cookies for potential reviewers! Longer reviews get two! I have OREOS, Lemon Thins, and Milano, and plain old Chocolate chip, too. <strong>


	3. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the uber short chapter, guys. The next one's longer, I promise. I made this one short so I could update fast :) **

**IloveElfangor I really liked your preview. Hork-Bajir is spelled with an I... just a random thing I noticed.  
>I guess Hades and Forlay might work, along with Ares and Michelle and Aphrodite and Dan. If you want it to be wierd, I understand that. I like unexpected twists too. :) But I really think Cassie would be an Aphrodite and Rachel an Ares.<br>I totally forgot about the God of Sleep. *facepalm* But Marco is a good Hephaestus :)  
>Hmm. Jake "just happened" to be adopted. Brilliant.<br>So Loren is actually Hera in disguise? That would definitely work. And I think Tobias had two sets of aunts and uncles, just saying... And nobody likes Romans. They invented Latin. EEEEVIL...  
>One more thing. If your mom won't let you get an account, I could post it for you and say it's by IloveElfangor. You could PM it to me or something, or email if you can do that, or even Skype. I will try to think of a quest and will put it in the next chapter. D'you think you can get Astrid in there, as an Athena or a Hera?<strong>

**Andrew's Brain Sorry I haven't been updating for a while. It's been kinda hectic, sorry. This chapter is kind of short too, but the next one is longer :) I'm glad you think I managed to do this right :) Some of the characters might be a bit OOC, so don't mind that.**

**I DO NOT OWN ANIMORPHS OR JAKE OR MARCO OR AX OR RACHEL OR TOBIAS OR CASSIE. I ONLY OWN ASTRID AND HER (dead) SISTER.  
><strong>

The Ally

We slept in a clearing some distance behind Cassie's barn, us Andalites in scoops in the grass and Tobias on a branch overhead. I never could understand how he could sleep sp high, with nothing to support him but a branch. In squirrel morph, I'd sleep in burrows near the roots of trees. In the morning, I was the first to wake. I didn't realize Tobias was awake also until he spoke up.

/Aren't you going to do the Ritual? /

/What? /

/Ax does something he calls the Ritual every morning. How about you? /

/With all due respect, it's pointless/ I pointed out. /I've been legally deceased to the Andalite race for nearly eight years /

/Ouch/

/Yeah, ouch/ He was silent for a while.

/So what's your story? /

/What's yours? /

/Fair enough. I don't have much of one, though. I never knew my parents, grew up with an aunt and uncle who hated each other almost more than they hated me, if that was possible. I sometimes think that getting trapped in morph was, in a sense, the best thing that had ever happened to me. How about you? /

/My mother piloted a fighter. My sister was TO on her ship. It got annihilated in a skirmish with the Pool ship. My father was a war-prince. One day, during the Hork-Bajir War, he just… disappeared off the face of the universe. He was declared dead. I never knew any of them. I was too young. Andalites are given names when we are ten Earth years old. Do you know what _Aristha_ means, Tobias? /

/No/ he replied.

/_Aristh_ is a title for a warrior-cadet. It generally means "young one" or "inexperienced one." _Aristha_ is a female name, derived from _aristh_, that means "unwelcome." Aximili's family adopted me at one point, but it was evident they did not want me. So I ran away. I had yet no name, as I was but the equivalent of seven, so I gave myself Aristha. Because I remembered how I had felt among my people. I had meant to sneak onto Elfangor's ship, but I didn't manage to. I caught a Z-space transport to Earth instead, got myself infested by a Yeerk, was freed by Elfangor, who had then arrived, and that's it/ I finished. I had never told anyone my true, full story before. It felt like a weight had been taken off my chest as I finally talked about it.

Aximili chose that time to wake up. Tobias and I watched him perform his morning Ritual in silence. HE then headed over to us.  
>Hello/ he greeted us.

/Hey/ I replied.

/Have you been up long? / I shrugged. It is a human gesture made by the moving up and down of their shoulders, used to indicate confusion or unknowledge of something. He continued.

/Do you think we might ever be able to go home? /

/Well/ I replied, /I would rather stay on Earth. I have nobody to return to back home. But nothing is stopping you from return/

/I have no ship/ he said, sounding a bit deflated. I instantly felt sorry for… What? Telling the truth?I don't know, I just felt sorry. Even so, I almost smiled at his concerns.

**  
>"Are. You. INSANE?" That was Marco. We were gathered in the Wildlife rehabilitation clinic, all together, as it was a Sunday. "You want to WHAT?"<p>

"Build a distress beacon for the Yeerks to come, but send only a low-level signal so it would be only one Bug Fighter that came. Dis. Strrreeess. Seegnall." Aximili, in human morph, explained.

"Well planned" I smiled. I was also in human morph. Aximili's human morph blushed pink. I think that means, for a human, that he is pleased. For an Andalite, it would mean illness.

"Just checking" Marco muttered. "Astrid," he said, addressing me by my human name, "tell me this: how is it that you can act so human, while Ax… is different. Like playing with sounds. Or the whole my-minute-your-minute thing. Or…" I cut him off.  
>"Practice, Marco. I have had…" should I count my years as Sub-Visser 1-2-9? Three years as a slave, but I guess I was learning about human culture anyway. Yes, I decided. "…eight years of practice. And yet, my speech is not always in the natural human flow of words."<p>

"Yeah, but that's different…" he began, but Prince Jake cut him off.  
>"Okay, let's stop talking about Astrid's identity in question, and focus on the plan."<br>"What plan?" Marco demanded. "Who said we all agree? Don't we get to vote?" This earned him a punch from Rachel. "Nobody says you have to go, Marco. But if we're voting, I say let's do it!"  
>"Big surprise" Marco muttered. Prince Jake ignored them both.<p>

"So, Ax, you think you can build one of those signal-things?"

"Yes, Prince Jake. Puh. Puh. Puh-riiincee."  
>"And do you thing you can pilot a Bug Fighter, if we ever do manage to capture one?"<br>"Of course, Prince Jake. Inferior Yeerk technology…" he began, with arrogance only an Andalite could harbor. Were all Andalites like this? Rachel cut him off.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I shot her a grateful look, and she smiled in return. I'm assuming it was nothing, because we then left.

**I have more cookies! *displays tray* Miss Martian and I baked them~!  
>(And thanks for the muffin, btw, IloveElfangor)<strong>


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, sorry this took me so long to update. It's been super-hecic at my house and I only just yesterday found time to write. So, onto comments...**

**ILE- Can I call you that? *offers cookies* Well, anyway, to answer/address your questions in the order asked.  
>1. PM is Private Messaging, but it's only if you have an account.<br>2. It's Astrid and Ax, because she wasn't his adopted sister, she only said that to explain. Yes, the Esgarrouth-Sirinial family did offer her shelter, but that was it.  
>3. Right, got it. One aunt then. Sorry! But didn't Loren have more than one sister?<br>4. I confused her with another of my OCs, Lex. She is not an Athena. Maybe an Ares, or, if no, a... Zeus? Or, for something really wierd, a Demeter. I don't know why, that just popped into my head.  
>5. Sounds excellent. Elfangor dying always made me sad.<br>6. Spelling is evil... I was in the spelling bee Wednesday, so that's one of the reasons why I didn't update so long. EVIL. GERMAN. SAUSAGE. MADE ME LOSE.  
>7. No, nonono. It's just that it seemed kind of convenient for Athena.<br>8. I don't get the Taylor roach thing. Unless... you didn't trap her in morph, did you?  
>9. Yes, definitely erase Tobias' memory. Rachel drama!<br>10. You tooo? Ssshhh, don't tell the Yeerks...  
>11. I made a few changes to your prophecy, all right?<br>Five shall go West, as has been told,  
>And meet with the god in robes of gold. (Hades or Apollo)<br>The other two will go to the North, then to the West,  
>Only to be put to the ultimate test. (knock yourself out with this one :))<br>They shall retrieve what has been lost (Alan's/Tobias' memory)  
>And realize what matters most. (Family, or love, or something.)<br>12. I thought Alan was reborn, ane then, they have to go through the River Lethe, which makes them forget.  
>13. All right, she has medium skin, somewhere between Cassie and Marco, and curly light brown hair with flecks of gold, and dark chocolate brown eyes. Red hair is, agin, Lex :) Read The Warp to find out who she is, everyone!<br>14. I can't explain Skype, just Google it...  
>Aaannddd... 15. Sweet preview! I'll Beta you wheneer you get an account...<br>*phew* a lot of comments... Yayyy!**

**Iris129 I'm sorry! *offers waffles* And yes, it is.**

The Ally

After Aximili and I de- and re-morphed humans, the six of up (minus Tobias) waked to a bus stop (neither Aximili nor I had a bicycle) and that took us approximately eleven minutes. We then took the omnibus to the shopping mall (seven minutes), which then left us an hour and forty-two minutes.

To tell the truth, I was a bit overwhelmed as we walked in the entrance. I had never had the need to be there before. I never noticed Aximili was missing until Prince Jake pointed it out.

"Hey, has anyone seen Ax?" Oh, _hirsa_. We looked around frantically until Cassie pointed him out on the escalator. Unfortunately, by the time we reached it, he was nowhere to be seen. We again began to search worriedly, and it was actually I who spotted him in line at the Starbucks Café. As the person in front of him ordered, and then left, I saw Aximili. He walked over to the counter and ordered. He must have heard the person before him order.

"An extra large mocha frappuccino, hold the caff. Frappuccino. Frap. Puccino. Frap. Pu. Ccino. Mocha. Cha. Hold the caff."

"You got that right" the cashier muttered as she turned away to prepare his order. I rushed forward and put some human coins on the counter, got my change, and handed the leftover coins to Aximili.

"Here, you can keep them" I said as I helped him fix a top on his drink.

"Thank you, Astrid. Ast. Riddddd. Stridd. You have a pretty name." Well, then. I ignored his last comment and began to walk over to the others.  
>"C'mon, Aximili, the others are waiting for us" I said, willing myself not to get annoyed. After all, I had been the same when I first came to Earth, after being freed from the Sub-Visser. Had I really been like that? We were about halfway there when I heard him shout.<p>

"Oh! What is that? At. Th. Attt. What. Tuh."

I sighed. I had been expecting this. "Taste. It's a human sense, felt through the mouth, which is related to smell."

We reached the others, Aximili going on about how wonderful taste was. Rachel met my gaze and rolled her eyes. It is a human gesture of exasperation. I nodded. As we walked into the Radio Shack, she caught up with me.  
>"What was it this time?" she asked me.<br>"Taste" I said, beginning to explain. "It is a new sense to us Andalites because…"

"Without a mouth, you don't have a sense of taste, do you?"

"No, we do not, and it is inclined to excite us when we first discover it…"

"Brother. Were you this way too?"

"I was, actually."

We walked around the Radio Shack as we talked, with Aximili picking out the items we would need, until we would need just one more thing:

"We just need a Z-Space Transponder." Aximili announced.  
>"A Z-Space Whatsit?" Marco asked.<p>

"Z-Space Transponder." I explained. "Zero-Space. Like the antimatter universe? This device allows us to send information through Z-Space." Of course, I could have explained it better, but I got the feeling that nobody but Aximili would follow it.

Marco shook his head. "Nope, that's decades ahead of us humans…"

_Hirsa_, the signal wouldn't work without one. I knew that even with my very limited knowledge of Andalite technology. But I also had an idea of how to get one.

"Aximili," I asked. "Isn't there any way you could reprogram… oh, say, a human satellite phone to… Aximili? Aximili!" Where was he? I searched for him with my eyes, my human mind in a state of panic before my Andalite mind regained a semblance of control.

"Pri… Jake? Have you seen Aximili?"

He was in the middle of paying for our items. "No, wasn't he with you guys?"

"Wasn't he up front, helping you pay?" Marco interrupted. Cassie shook her head. "Oh, no" she whispered, having just then noticed something. "Look at the crowd. It's almost as if…" She didn't finish and didn't need to. All of the people were moving in one general direction. We followed the crowd, and saw a boy- Aximili- running around and stuffing his mouth with what the humans called cinnamon buns like an insane person. What in _yaolin_ did he think he was doing? I understood taste and all, but that was truly taking it to the extreme! I spotted some human policemen and quickly pointed them out to Prince Jake. His narrow human eyes widened and he shouted, "RUN!"

**Me: All right, then! Review? I've got...  
>Ax: Cinnamon Bun-zuh! Taste!<br>Me: Give back my keyboard, Aximili. Well, I do have Cinnamon Bun-zuh... I mean Cinnamon BUNS for all you potential reviewers!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry this is so late but my life is (as Marco'd say) INSANE. So much stuff going on... moving to Europe in a month... Brother Nicky had eye surgery... Sister Lilly got the flu... Yeesh. It seems like everything's going on at once!**

**I got too many reviews to reply to them all personally, but do know I actually read them, and I would like to thank all my wonderful readers/reviewers. I LOVE YOU GUYS!**

The Ally

Aximili whipped around and ran as fast as he could, still unsteady on his human legs. He tripped and barely steadied himself beginning to demorph in a panic. One of the policemen stopped, shouting something to the effect of "What in almighty Hades…" with some other words I did not understand, but assumed were words I shouldn't ask Prince Jake about. The other one, however, worried me more. He mouthed 'Andalite' and picked up his human com-unit. Human com-unit. Human? They were Yeerks! That meant…

Both men, having gotten over their initial shock, started to run after the half-morphed Aximili. _Hirsa,_ couldn't he just remorph human and get away in the crowd? The rational, Andalite side of me told me to stand up and either walk away or challenge the policemen. The human side of me told me to do something… crazier. Demorphing as fast as I could, I ran at the policemen and leaped at the last second, sailing over their heads and keeping them at bay, tail blade raised. I don't think any of the guards noticed I took a pea-sized object from one of their now-human con-units.

/Aximili, RUN! / I mentally shouted. As he turned to run, I held them back before I saw more police cars arriving. _Hirsa,_ I had been stupid! I announced to the rest of the team to stay back and meet us at the barn, and grabbed Aximili by his arm, rushing into a bathroom. Instructing him quickly, I morphed human and pretended to run in panic. We took the emergency exit out and ducked behind a dumpster.

Then, my mind stopped. I didn't have any morphs save squirrel and human! Cursing myself for being an idiot, I grabbed his human arm and ran down the street, counting on our similar appearance to pass as siblings. We ran down the street, keeping to back alleyways as we went. We arrived at Cassie's nearing our two-hour limit, having run most of the time. The others were already there. I clutched at the stitch in my stomach as I demorphed.

Jake asked, "So you made it?"

/Barely/ I said as my mouth disappeared. Aximili confirmed this. /We were three minutes and eleven seconds from our limit/

Prince Jake nodded. "Right. Well, while you were here, we decided to do this Bug Fighter thing. But…" He said, trailing off.

"We'd like you guys to stay behind, unless you mind." Rachel said. "Cassie had an idea. The Visser would be there, because security would be stepped up."

"The Visser wouldn't want to look bad in front of a competitor." Cassie explained.

"We might be able to take him down if we take him by surprise. And if we were to be captured, you two would stand a sporting chance. "

/And you humans figured all this out on your own? / Aximili marveled.

/That would be wise/ I said.

"So can we do this?" Prince Jake asked. I nodded, a human gesture that means "yes." I tossed Jake the something I had taken from the policemen's unit. It was a Z-Space Transponder.

"Astrid. How did you… Is that a…" Marco started. I nodded again.

"We're set then." Price Jake said. "Ax, can you assemble the signal?"  
>Of course, Prince Jake/

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Rachel asked.

**Thanks, all you reviewers. And I have cookies! (Just store bought. Too busy to make anything)**

**And especially thanks to Elfera. I haven't had time to personally thank you for all the moral support and fun quotes, but here I am :) Thank you Elfera!**


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